The Florida Gators struggled with poise in their first away SEC game and blew a golden opportunity to establish themselves as an SEC contender. In their 20 - 13 win, the still undefeated Kentucky Wildcats played just well enough to allow Florida to give away the game. Statistically, the Gators who always seem to struggle against Kentucky, weren’t bad. The problem, from start to finish, was penalties. Of the Gator’s eye popping 15 penalties, 12 were against the offense and killed or stalled promising drives. Clearly, a noisy away stadium in the SEC brings a set of challenges for offensive linemen. Three of Florida’s offensive linemen had significant SEC away game experience, but center Kingsley Eguakun did not. Several of the 9 illegal procedure penalties appeared to be the result of late center snaps with more than one Gator moving in unison before the snap. On a couple others, it was impossible on replay to see who moved early.

The most critical negative sequence for Florida came with 8:44 left in the third quarter and the Gators leading 10 to 7. Florida’s Tra’vez Johnson intercepted a Will Levis pass and returned it to the Kentucky 16 yard line. Unfortunately, Antonio Valentino was called for a “blind block”, away from the action, on the return and the Gators began their possession at the 31 instead of the 14. On third down and three to go at the Kentucky 24, Florida had a Damian Pierce ten-yard run called back for holding (on Eguakun) and ultimately settled for a 48 yard field goal ATTEMPT. The kick was blocked and returned for a Kentucky touchdown. Instead of a possible 17 - 7 or (at least) 13 - 7 lead, Florida trailed 10- 14.

Don’t tell the fire Todd Grantham crowd, but the Gator’s defense was solid again this week. Their “bend but don’t break” approach kept Florida in the game, despite Florida’s offensive problems, to the very end. Of Kentucky’s 20 points, only 13 came against the defense and 7 of those came on a Kentucky drive that began at the Florida 29. Notably, the Wildcats ability to convert the post-turnover short field into a touchdown when Florida failed miserably in a similar circumstance was the difference maker. This week, the fan criticism will be on Dan Mullen and his offense instead of on Grantham’s defense. It’s a what have you done for me lately world.

On offense, the Gator’s had nearly 400 yards of total offense. Emory Jones was more than solid. It was the inability to survive self-inflicted wounds (penalties) on virtually every offensive possession that prevented Florida from converting yards to points. The difference between great teams and good teams is that ability to survive tough breaks and tough environments. Florida isn't quite there yet.

The Gators will follow next week’s home game against Vandy with a trip to one of the noisiest stadiums in the nation. The LSU crowd makes Kentucky's seem sedate by comparison. Hopefully, Florida uses the full two weeks to better prepare for the crazy, loud environment at Death Valley.

The pregame questions for the Florida Gators might have surrounded whether the prolific offense could sustain momentum or whether the inconsistent defense could achieve some level of consistent play. As it turns out, the impact plays in first half were made by the Florida special-teams. The combination of an early, gutsy, fake punt, a beautiful Jacob Finn coffin corner punt, and the subsequent Kadarius Toney punt return for a touchdown allowed Florida to weather the precision of Kentucky’s well-played first half to regroup at half-time.

The Wildcats played solid ball control offense the entire first half. They owned time of possession by a wide margin (23:23 to 6:37), committed zero penalties, and had zero turnovers. By keeping Kyle Trask and the Florida offense watching from the bench, Kentucky gave themselves their best chance to beat the heavily favored Gators. The Wildcats weren’t great on offense, but they did take advantage of a short-field to turn the one Florida turnover into 7 points and held a 10 - 7 lead with less than one minute left in the first half. Without the Gators successful, early game fake punt conversion that ultimately led to Florida’s only offensive points of the half, the deficit would have been larger.

Florida's first touchdown was the result of Dan Mullen's gutsy fourth down and two call at his OWN 25 yard line. From punt formation, Dameon Pierce took the direct snap from the upback position and skirted around left end for 15 yards and a first down. Two plays later, Kyle Trask connected with Kyle Pitts for a 56 yard touchdown pass. The Gators failed to build on the 7 - 0 lead and lost momentum by following the score with fumble, punt, and punt on their next three possessions.

The sequence that flipped the momentum back to Florida began with a Kentucky timeout taken with Florida facing 4th down and 11 at their own 41 yard line and 1:20 remaining in the first half. Jacob Finn launched a 49 yard punt that pinned Kentucky at their own one yard line with 1:13 remaining. Florida made three consecutive run stops, the biggest on 3rd down with just one yard needed for a Kentucky first down. By using their timeouts after each play, Florida forced a Kentucky punt with 57 seconds left in the half. The Gators punt return team, using a trick play, returned the Wildcat punt for a touchdown. The net result of the last 1:20 of the half was that Kentucky, despite executing an excellent first-half game plan, went into the locker room trailing 14 to 10.

Florida, with the lead, momentum, and the ball to begin the second half, made good halftime adjustments. The Gators scored 17 points and held Kentucky to 18 yards of total offense to put the game away in the third quarter. Florida was content to run clock in the fourth quarter and Kentucky threw two interceptions and never reestablished any level of offensive flow.

For the record, the Florida offense, despite two turnovers and some general sloppiness, did maintain momentum. Trask’s passing statistics were good, but he wasn’t as consistently sharp as in many other games. Pitts returned from his two week absence with an exclamation point (5 catches, 3 touchdowns, and 99 receiving yards). Pierce averaged 8.4 yards per carry, caught 4 passes, and was the ball carrier on the fake punt.

The Florida defense also showed signs of improvement. Kentucky was held to 221 yards (only 62 passing) of total offense. The Gators had three interceptions and two sacks. Importantly, Kentucky’s longest play from scrimmage was for just 20 yards. James Houston's return was important as he led the Gators with 8 tackles, 3 of them for negative yards in critical situations. Admittedly, the Wildcat offense isn’t good, but Florida took an important step forward on defense.

The Gators travel to Knoxville next week to play the University of Tennessee. The Volunteers are in the midst of a disappointing season, but were open this week and will have had two weeks to prepare for Florida.